Split leaves Yankees in first place

New York Yankees' Curtis Granderson, right, celebrates his home run with teammate Ichiro Suzuki (31), of Japan, during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Sunday, Sept. 9, 2012, in Baltimore. The Yankees won 13-3. (AP Photo/Nick Wass) (Nick Wass)

DAILY NEWS WIRE REPORTS

Posted: September 10, 2012

THE NEW YORK Yankees escaped from Camden Yards with their lead in the AL East intact, and as a bonus, slugger Curtis Granderson worked his way out of a slump.

Granderson came off the bench to hit his 35th homer and drive in five runs, and visiting New York beat the Baltimore Orioles Sunday, 13-3, to regain sole possession of first place in the division and earn an important split of the season series.

Derek Jeter also homered for the Yankees, who lead the Orioles by one game with 22 left. Each team won twice in a four-game set that drew 173,572 fans.

"The bottom line is we're in first place," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

New York finished 9-9 against Baltimore this season. Had the Orioles won Sunday, they would have received homefield advantage in a playoff game if the teams finish tied atop the division. Baltimore would have also had homefield advantage if the Yankees and Orioles finish tied for both wild-card berths.

Now, if the teams are tied at the end of the regular season, record within the division will be the tiebreaker.

Granderson didn't start because he in a 5-for-43 skid.

In another Yankees matter, first baseman Mark Teixeira re-injured his left calf Saturday night on the final play of the game. An MRI on Monday will go a long way toward determining how long he will be sidelined.

In other games *

At St. Petersburg, Fla., B.J. Upton hit three home runs, James Shields threw a two-hitter and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Texas Rangers, 6-0.

* At Chicago, Mike Moustakas stroked a go-ahead single in the 10th inning to lift Kansas City over the White Sox, 2-1.

* At Seattle, Jonny Gomes hit a three-run home run and Oakland finished off a three-game sweep of the Mariners with a 4-2 victory. * At Boston, Omar Vizquel hit a pair of sacrifice flies, including one in the ninth inning that lifted Toronto over the Red Sox, 4-3.

* At Minneapolis, Justin Morneau hit his second homer of the game in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Twins over Cleveland, 8-7.